Oregon went to Los Angeles in need of a jolt to its resume to stay alive for an NCAA Tournament berth and left with two of the best wins in college basketball this season in a span of three days.
Will Richardson scored a career-high 28 points and had four rebounds and four assists to lead the Ducks to a wire-to-wire, 79-69 win over USC at the Galen Center on Saturday night.
It’s the first time a Pac-12 team has swept a conference road trip against a pair of top 5 or top 10 opponents, and Oregon is the first team since 1975-76 Clemson to beat two AP top-five teams on the road in a five-day span, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
The Ducks, who entered the weekend No. 91 in NET, jumped to 78 after beating No. 3 UCLA on Thursday and should move into the bubble conversation with eight weeks until Selection Sunday.
“We needed a big week; our guys knew that,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “I’ve been talking about a sense of urgency since the Baylor game — before that. ‘Fellas, we can’t bury ourselves any further. We still don’t have any room for error.’ It’s Jan. 15 and you’re already talking about you don’t have any room for error. You’ve got to bring it every night. That sense of urgency is going to have to come every night.
“It’s 42 years (I’ve been coaching) and I haven’t seen anything like it and man we needed it. We needed something to jumpstart us. Three road wins this week, now we go home. I told the guys that being at home doesn’t do anything for us if we don’t take care (of business).”
Richardson, a fourth-year junior, scored 19 of his points in the first half on 6 of 9 shooting from the field with four three-pointers and was 3 of 4 at the free throw line. He finished 9 of 15 from the field, including 5 of 8 from behind the arc, and 5 of 8 from the line.
Oregon (11-6, 4-2 Pac-12) jumped out to an 18-8 lead in the first five minutes. Boogie Ellis (18 points) got USC within five, but the Ducks closed the first half on a 13-2 run to take a 45-29 into the break.
Isaiah Mobley had 18 points and nine rebounds and Drew Peterson scored all 10 of his points in the second half for No. 5 USC (14-2, 4-2 Pac-12), which had won six of the prior eight meetings of the teams, including in last year’s Sweet 16.
De’Vion Harmon had 16 points and N’Faly Dante added 12 points and seven rebounds for Oregon, which scored 22 points off 13 turnovers by the Trojans, six coming via steals.
Harmon said the Ducks, who opened the season 5-5 with an 0-2 start in conference play, have improved their attitude and energy and are much more together defensively compared to earlier this season when they suffered some blowout losses.
“We’re connected,” Harmon said. “That’s what we didn’t have in November and early part of December. Being connected, staying together through ups and downs even when teams make a run. Staying together through those runs and keep pushing, keep playing hard, keep sticking to what we know, sticking to what we know and believing in each other, and the trust that we have has really grown over the last couple of months.”
It’s a message Altman preaches regularly but has been harping on even more than usual this season with UO still 106th in defensive efficiency, according to KenPom.
He credits Richardson’s vocal leadership in practice and throughout games, as well as fellow starters Harmon, Jacob Young and N’Faly Dante and Eric Williams Jr. for all playing harder and with greater urgency since the holiday break.
“Our guys are just playing harder,” Altman said. “I wish I can act like we invented something here. We’re just playing so much harder than what we did. …
“We’ve still got a lot of room. That’s the exciting thing. I still think we’ve got so much room to grow into. I really do. I think our execution can get so much better. The connection offensively can get better. The connection defensively can get better. I’m excited because I still think we’ve still got room to grow.”